Mai Minna Villadsen (born 26 December 1991) is a Danish politician who is a member of the

Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

and the political spokesperson of the

Red–Green Alliance In politics, a red–green alliance or red–green coalition is an alliance of "red" (often social-democratic or democratic socialist) parties with "green" (often green and/or occasionally agrarian) parties. The alliance is often based on commo ...

. Villadsen has been a member of the

since the

2019 Danish general election General elections were held in the Kingdom of Denmark on 5 June 2019 to elect all 179 members of the Folketing; 175 in Denmark proper, two in the Faroe Islands and two in Greenland. The elections took place ten days after the European Parliament ...

Early life

Villadsen grew up in the town of

Kibæk Kibæk is a town in Herning Municipality in Denmark with a population of 2,638 (1 January 2023).Red–Green Alliance In politics, a red–green alliance or red–green coalition is an alliance of "red" (often social-democratic or democratic socialist) parties with "green" (often green and/or occasionally agrarian) parties. The alliance is often based on commo ...

has the lowest voter turnout. She is the daughter of primary school teachers Jørn Sloth Andersen and Lisbeth Ejby Villadsen. As inspiration to enter politics, Villadsen has mentioned her grandmother, who was a seamstress and active in trade union life. Villadsen attended Kibæk School from 1997 until 2007 and became a student at

Gefion Gymnasium Gefion Gymnasium is an upper secondary school ( Danish: gymnasium) in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located on Øster Voldgade in the city centre. History Gefion Gymnasium was created in 2010 through the merger of Østre Borgerdyd Gymnasium and the ...

in 2011, but without subsequently completing a higher education. From 2013 until 2015, Villadsen was employed as a youth consultant in the trade union HK Denmark, where she worked with organising young people in the professional community and advised members in connection with dismissals. From 2015 until 2019, she was a political adviser in the Red–Green Alliance. Around the same time, she worked as an external lecturer at

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

CEVEA, and in the period 2015 until 2017 as an external project manager and lecturer at DeltagerDanmark. The work consisted, among other things, of training young professional activists in debate and organisation.

Political career

Villadsen was elected into parliament at the 2019 election, where she received 2,572 votes. On 10 February 2021, she became the new political spokesperson for the Red–Green Alliance, after

Pernille Skipper Pernille Skipper (born 10 July 1984) is a former Danish politician. She was a member of the Folketing from 2011 to 2022, and was political spokesperson for the Red–Green Alliance from 2016 to 2021, succeeding Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen. In 2021 s ...

. Despite the Red-Green Alliance losing four seats at the 2022 Danish general election, Villadsen was re-elected receiving 10,822 personal votes.

References

External links

Biography on the website of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget)
Living people 1991 births People from Herning Municipality Red–Green Alliance (Denmark) politicians Women members of the Folketing 21st-century Danish women politicians Members of the Folketing 2019–2022 Members of the Folketing 2022–2026 Leaders of political parties in Denmark {{Denmark-politician-stub